ABSTRACT
The 1990s have witnessed significant changes in post-16 geography and ‘geography-related’ courses as part of a larger reorganization of the education and assessment system for 14 to 19 year-olds. The two Bearing reports (1994 and 1995) into the National Curriculum and its assessment, and 16-19 qualifications, reopened important debates about the structure and purpose of education and have begun to initiate improvements. By the mid-1990s the Conservative government’s realization of the need for greater coherence in the 16-19 curriculum and assessment system was long overdue. Nevertheless, following Dearing’s recommendations of 1995, there now appear to be real possibilities for creating a more unified structure. A new National Certificate which would encompass both A levels and vocational qualifications has been suggested, along with a reduction in the number of A level syllabuses, greater flexibility of courses, and a rationalization of the 14,000 academic and vocational qualifications that currently exist for the post-16 student.
